Photoshop Elements 2018 for Dummies

The top-selling book on Photoshop Elements—updated in a new edition 

Photoshop Elements offers photo editors of all skill levels the power to turn run-of-the-mill images into beautiful works of art—and Photoshop Elements 2018 For Dummies shows you how. Those new to photo editing who are looking for advice on making the most common fixes and experienced editors in need of a road map to this version of Photoshop Elements will find great value in this book!

Start off by touring the Photoshop Elements interface with introductions to the tools that make the program so powerful. You’ll also follow simple step-by-step instructions for organizing images for editing, creating layers in your images, adjusting color and focus, applying artsy filters, adding text to an image, and so much more.

• Get simple explanations for handling image editing
• Find steps for giving your photos a digital makeover
• Discover tips for getting better photos
• Create frame-worthy pieces you’ll be proud to display

If you’re ready to take your photo editing skills to new heights, all the help you need is a page—and a click—away.

Barbara Obermeier is principal of Obermeier Design and a faculty member at California Lutheran University. Ted Padova has written more than 60 books on digital design tools including Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Illustrator, and Acrobat. Both are veteran professionals in graphic design.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Getting Started with Photoshop Elements 2018 5

Chapter 1: Getting Started with Image Editing 7

Before You Begin 7

Launching the Photo Editor 10

Making Basic Edits in Quick Mode 12

Sharing a Photo 14

Retracing Your Steps 16

Using the History panel 16

Reverting to the last save 17

Getting a Helping Hand 17

Saving Files with Purpose 19

Using the Save/Save As dialog box 20

Saving files for the web 21

Chapter 2: Basic Image-Editing Concepts 23

Grappling with the Ubiquitous Pixels 24

Understanding resolution 24

Understanding image dimensions 27

The Art of Resampling 27

Changing image size and resolution 27

Understanding the results of resampling 29

Choosing a Resolution for Print or Onscreen 30

Go Ahead — Make My Mode! 31

Converting to Bitmap mode 32

Converting to Grayscale mode 34

Understanding File Formats 37

File formats at a glance 41

Audio and video formats supported in Elements 42

Getting Familiar with Color 43

Getting Color Right 44

Color the easy way 45

Calibrating your monitor 45

Choosing a color workspace 46

Understanding how profiles work 47

Chapter 3: Exploring the Photo Editor 49

Examining the Photo Editor 49

Examining the image window 53

Uncovering the contextual menus 56

Selecting the tools 57

Selecting from the Tool Options 58

Playing with panels 60

Using the Photo Bin 63

Creating different views of an image 63

Viewing filenames 64

Using Photo Bin Actions 64

Finding Your Bearings in Guided Mode 65

Controlling the Editing Environment 67

Launching and navigating preferences 67

Checking out all the preferences panes 68

Part 2: Managing Media 73

Chapter 4: Navigating the Organizer 75

Organizing Photos and Media on a Hard Drive 76

Adding Images to the Organizer 77

Adding files from folders and removable media 77

Downloading camera images with the Elements Downloader 79

Importing additional photos from folders 81

Navigating the Media Browser 82

Using a Scanner 83

Understanding image requirements 83

Using scanner plug-ins (Windows) 84

Scanning on the Mac 86

Scanning many photos at a time 86

Phoning in Your Images 87

Setting Organizer Preferences 89

Chapter 5: Organizing Your Pictures 91

Touring the Organizer 91

Organizing Groups of Images with Tags 95

Creating and viewing a tag 95

Adding icons to tags 97

Working with custom tags 98

Working with default tags 99

Working with subcategories 100

Sorting photos according to tags 101

Auto Curating Images 102

Rating Images with Stars 102

Adding Images to an Album 103

Creating an album 103

Using albums for temporary work 105

Editing an album 105

Finding out more about sharing your albums 106

Adding People in the Media Browser 106

Placing Pictures on Maps 108

Working with Events 110

Chapter 6: Viewing and Finding Your Images 113

Cataloging Files 113

Using the Catalog Manager 114

Working with catalogs 115

Backing up your catalog 116

Backing up photos and files (Windows) 117

Switching to a Different View 118

Viewing Photos in Memories (Slideshow) 119

Searching for Photos 121

Using Search 121

Searching for untagged items 123

Searching captions and notes 123

Searching by history 124

Searching metadata 124

Searching similarities 125

Grouping Files That Get in the Way 127

Marking files as hidden 127

Stacking ‘em up 127

Creating versions 129

Part 3: Selecting and Correcting Photos 131

Chapter 7: Making and Modifying Selections 133

Defining Selections 133

Creating Rectangular and Elliptical Selections 134

Perfecting squares and circles with Shift and Alt (Option on the Mac) 136

Applying Marquee options 136

Making Freeform Selections with the Lasso Tools 138

Selecting with the Lasso tool 139

Getting straight with the Polygonal Lasso tool 141

Snapping with the Magnetic Lasso tool 141

Working Wizardry with the Magic Wand 144

Talking about Tolerance 144

Wielding the Wand to select 145

Modifying Your Selections 147

Adding to, subtracting from, and intersecting a selection 147

Avoiding key collisions 148

Painting with the Selection Brush 149

Painting with the Quick Selection Tool 151

Selecting with the Smart Selection Tool 153

Fine-Tuning with the Refine Selection Brush 154

Working with the Cookie Cutter Tool 156

Eliminating with the Eraser Tools 158

The Eraser tool 158

The Background Eraser tool 159

The Magic Eraser tool 161

Using the Select Menu 161

Selecting all or nothing 161

Reselecting a selection 162

Inversing a selection 162

Feathering a selection 162

Refining the edges of a selection 163

Using the Modify commands 164

Applying the Grow and Similar commands 165

Saving and loading selections 165

Chapter 8: Working with Layers 167

Getting to Know Layers 167

Converting a background to a layer 168

Anatomy of the Layers panel 169

Using the Layer and Select menus 173

Working with Different Layer Types 174

Image layers 174

Adjustment layers 175

Fill layers 177

Shape layers 178

Type layers 179

Tackling Layer Basics 179

Creating a new layer from scratch 179

Using Layer via Copy and Layer via Cut 180

Duplicating layers 181

Dragging and dropping layers 182

Using the Paste into Selection command 182

Moving a Layer’s Content 183

Transforming Layers 184

Adding Layer Masks 185

Flattening and Merging Layers 188

Flattening layers 188

Merging layers 189

Chapter 9: Simple Image Makeovers 191

Cropping and Straightening Images 191

Cutting away with the Crop tool 192

Fixing distortion with the Perspective Crop tool 194

Cropping with a selection border 196

Straightening images 196

Recomposing Images 197

Employing One-Step Auto Fixes 200

Auto Smart Tone 200

Auto Smart Fix 201

Auto Levels 202

Auto Contrast 202

Auto Haze Removal 203

Auto Color Correction 204

Auto Shake Reduction 204

Auto Sharpen 204

Auto Red Eye Fix 205

Editing in Quick Mode 207

Fixing Small Imperfections with Tools 210

Cloning with the Clone Stamp tool 210

Retouching with the Healing Brush 213

Zeroing in with the Spot Healing Brush 215

Repositioning with the Content-Aware Move tool 216

Lightening and darkening with Dodge and Burn tools 218

Smudging away rough spots 220

Softening with the Blur tool 221

Focusing with the Sharpen tool 222

Sponging color on and off 223

Replacing one color with another 225

Chapter 10: Correcting Contrast, Color, and Clarity 229

Editing Your Photos Using a Logical Workflow 230

Adjusting Lighting 231

Fixing lighting with Shadows/Highlights 231

Using Brightness/Contrast 232

Pinpointing proper contrast with Levels 233

Adjusting Color 235

Removing color casts automatically 236

Adjusting with Hue/Saturation 237

Eliminating color with Remove Color 239

Switching colors with Replace Color 240

Correcting with Color Curves 241

Adjusting skin tones 243

Defringing layers 245

Eliminating haze 246

Adjusting color temperature with photo filters 247

Mapping your colors 248

Adjusting Clarity 249

Removing noise, artifacts, dust, and scratches 249

Blurring when you need to 250

Sharpening for better focus 253

Opening closed eyes 256

Adjusting Facial Features 257

Reducing shake 258

Working Intelligently with the Smart Brush Tools 259

Part 4: Exploring Your Inner Artist 263

Chapter 11: Playing with Filters, Effects, Styles, and More 265

Having Fun with Filters 265

Applying filters 266

Corrective or destructive filters 267

One-step or multistep filters 267

Fading a filter 268

Selectively applying a filter 268

Working in the Filter Gallery 269

Distorting with the Liquify filter 271

Correcting Camera Distortion 273

Exploring Element’s Unique Filters 275

Creating a comic 275

Getting graphic 276

Using the Pen and Ink filter 278

Dressing Up with Photo and Text Effects 279

Adding Shadows, Glows, and More 281

Applying styles 281

Working with styles 283

Using the Graphics panel 284

Mixing It Up with Blend Modes 285

General blend modes 285

Darken blend modes 286

Lighten blend modes 287

Lighting blend modes 289

Inverter blend modes 289

HSL blend modes 291

Using Photomerge 292

Photomerge Panorama 292

Photomerge Group Shot 295

Photomerge Scene Cleaner 297

Photomerge Exposure 299

Photomerge Compose 301

Chapter 12: Drawing and Painting 305

Choosing Color 305

Working with the Color Picker 306

Dipping into the Color Swatches panel 307

Sampling with the Eyedropper tool 309

Getting Artsy with the Pencil and Brush Tools 310

Drawing with the Pencil tool 310

Painting with the Brush tool 312

Using the Impressionist Brush 314

Creating your own brush 315

Filling and Outlining Selections 317

Fill ’er up 317

Outlining with the Stroke command 318

Splashing on Color with the Paint Bucket Tool 319

Working with Multicolored Gradients 320

Applying a preset gradient 320

Customizing gradients 322

Working with Patterns 325

Applying a preset pattern 325

Creating a new pattern 326

Creating Shapes of All Sorts 327

Drawing a shape 328

Drawing multiple shapes 329

Specifying Geometry options 330

Editing shapes 331

Chapter 13: Working with Type 333

Understanding Type Basics 333

Tools 334

Modes 334

Formats 335

Creating Point Type 335

Creating Paragraph Type 337

Creating Path Type 338

Using the Text On Selection tool 338

Using the Text On Shape tool 339

Using the Text On Custom Path tool 341

Specifying Type Options 342

Editing Text 344

Simplifying Type 345

Masking with Type 346

Stylizing and Warping Type 349

Adjusting type opacity 349

Applying filters to your type 350

Painting your type with color and gradients 351

Warping your type 352

Part 5: Printing, Creating, and Sharing 353

Chapter 14: Getting It on Paper 355

Getting Pictures Ready for Printing 356

Working with Color Printer Profiles 357

Printing a photo with the printer managing color 358

Printing a photo with Elements managing color 363

Printing a picture package or contact sheet 366

Getting Familiar with the Print Dialog Box 367

Using Page Setup 369

Creating transfers, borders, and more with More Options 369

Chapter 15: Sharing Your Work 371

Getting Familiar with the Elements Sharing Options 371

Planning ahead 372

Understanding photo sharing in Elements 373

Using the Share Panel 374

Emailing photos 375

Working with Adobe Premiere Elements 377

Sharing your photos on social networks 377

Creating Facebook Cover Images 379

Chapter 16: Making Creations 383

Checking Out the Create Panel 383

Grasping Creation-Assembly Basics 384

Creating a Memories Video 388

Creating a PDF Slideshow 389

Making Additional Creations 390

Part 6: The Part of Tens 391

Chapter 17: Ten Tips for Composing Better Photos 393

Find a Focal Point 393

Use the Rule of Thirds 394

Cut the Clutter 394

Frame Your Shot 395

Employ Contrast 395

Experiment with Viewpoints 396

Use Leading Lines 396

Use Light 397

Give Direction 398

Consider Direction of Movement 399

Chapter 18: Ten (Or So) More Project Ideas 401

Screen Savers 402

Flyers, Ads, and Online Auctions 403

Clothes, Hats, and More 404

Posters 405

Household and Business Inventories 405

Project Documentation 406

School Reports and Projects 406

Blogs 406

Wait — There’s More 406

Index 407

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